The Portland daily press., 1887-10-22
TRACED BY A JIMMY.
Professional Cracksmen who Made
Maine a Memorable Visit.
Deputy Sheriff carr's Theory OF the
Dexter Bank Robbery.
Young Stain Takes to a Reporter at
Augusta.
rsnecial to the press.l

now famous confessor who implicated his
father and his gang in the Dexter bank rob-
berry, was in town tonight and seen by your
reporter. 1t seems he has not been in Nor
ridgewock or in Montreal as represented in
the papers but since week ago last Sunday
has been living easily at Gorham with his
wife and child. The place was found for
him by Deputy Sheriff Mitchell and he went
there by his instructions. While there he
kept very close and went under an assumed
name so that people should not know him.
He was sick portion of the time and re-
quired the services of doctor. Thursday
forenoon, by order of Sheriff Mitchell, he
left his Gorham home and went by train to
Readfeld where he went at once to his sis
ter-in-law's, Mrs. f. Sprague, who lives
close by the depot. He made no pretensions
of keeping close there and remained about
the village until this afternoon when he
came to Augusta. He had been instructed
to call at once on Lawyer Goddard and At
torney General Baker and go to Dexter
with them on the night Pullman train
which leaves here at 2.20 a. m. Arriving in
Augusta he was dumbfounded to find that
both Goddard and Baker had departed for
Dexter on the afternoon train which left but
few moments before. Late in the after
noon he went to Readfeld, to his sister-in-
laws. In the course of conversation there
Stain said he was going to Dexter Friday
night if he had to go afoot He would not
go alone and must have Sheriff Howes to
accompany him. Howes lives four miles
distant, in lonely crossroad, and driving
there Stain alighted in the sheriff's yard and
knocked at the front doer, Mr.. Howes APP
peared and Stain exclaimed exctedly: 81
throw myself into your handsl 1 must to
Dexter tomorrow, and want you to go with
mel" Howes concluded that he would go
and rode back to Mr. Sprague's with Stain.
Hardly had the party entered the house
when Deputy Sheriff Ramsdel drove up in
quest of Stain. The latter, when he heard
the team, trembled and shook from head to
foot Ramsdell claimed the witness, but
Howes and Stain both objected, and finally
it was decided that the latter should accom-
pany the much-wanted young man to Dex-
ter, The party then returned to Augusta,
arriving here at 11.30 p. m. Stain was then
taken to Attorney General Bakers office,
and will depart for Dexter on the morning
Pullman in company with his wife and Sher-
iff Howes.
Stain appeared to be in much agony over
the prospect of appearing to testify before
his father tomorrow II told Sheriff Mitch
ell, said he, that was afraid when | tes-
titled my father would jump at me. Mitchell
told me that need not to be near my father,
and he would protect me. Oh. dread this
ordeal / had rather go through fire any
day; he hated me and will have no mercy on
me should he ever escape" Evidently young
stain believed this, for he betrayed much
weakness.
Tonight Stain divulged new and startling
chapter of crime He was l0tn to speak of
it, and said not even Sheriff Mitchell knew
of it, let alone the World reporter. De-
tectiye Joe Bean, he said, had been working
on the case for long time. This was the
something which had been spoken of by him
as unravelled. 1t was nothing less than the
exposure of gang of counterfeiters who
had made their home in Massachusetts and
Vermont and for years have been manufae-
turing and dealing in counterfeit money. He
said their names are Geo. Clark, Geo. Snow
and Chas. Snow. The former resides in
Natlck, Mass, and pushes the queer"
while the latter two take in the Vermont
towns, and there in the basement of their
house run mill for grinding out bogus
money. Heretofore they had kept the mat
ter secret. "How happened to know of it
was that three men had frequently been at
posed of thousands of dollars worth
for them. | had carried it back
and forth for my father. They used
to manufacture bills entirely but l think
now they are stamping some silver. While
was at work at Hotel North in Augusta.
one of the gang came to me to take hum
dred dollars of the queer and pay him
twenty dollars for it. He told me | could
pass it easily enough to men that wore
glasses. | refused, however, to criminate
myself in this manner and did not accept the
counterfeit money. Clark has been all over
the country disposing of the gangs goods"
In speaking Of the Winthrop bank robbery
young Stain said Cromwell returned $4,000
of the stolen bonds, Wing receiving $4,000
in return. He added George Gleason to
the gang who committed the robbery and
said Gleason went to New York with Crom-
well, and was never heard from afterwards
Stain had much to say relative to his father
and in addition TO his black hearted parents
other crimes, said that his father, at one
time ran an illicit distillery in Medfeld. He
accused his father of burning his house near
Medheld, and obtaining $500 insurance on
it. The old man tried the same thing in
Medield later on, and burned the roof off
his house, but the insurance men would not
give him any money, and he quit the busi-
ness. The first big step in crime the old
man took was to steal a yoke of oxen some
where in Kennebec county. He also assert
ed that his lather and his men We're respon-
sible fer the attempt to crack Marville q
Gordon's safe at Readfeld few years ago.
On being questioned in regard to the attempt
to rob the Waterville Bank, he could not re-
member that old Stain or his gang had any
connection with it.
Stain denounced the New York World for
garbling and falsifying his story. He said
he had a copy of his confession in his pocket,
the same as originally made to Mitchell; that
was the truth ana the whole truth. II was
not on the trip TO Dexter when the bank was
robbed" he stated. THAT story was fabri-
cation of the World. They had no business
to put that in at all"
When last seen tonight, Stain thought the
hearing would be attended by all Bangor and
most of the Dexter public. He stated that
Attorney Goddard had promised to pay him
$500 for what he had done and wondered if
he would ever receive the money.
Mar. carr's Theory.
WINTHROP, Oct 21.-Ex-Deputy Sheriff
A.C. Carr of Winthrop, hasa theory as to who
were the robbers of both the Winthrop and
Dexter banks, which seems plausible and is
entertained by many people of this town. on
July 2, 1876, at about three o'clock in the
morning heavy explosion blew out the win
dows of the Winthrop Savings Bank and
aroused the people Of the village who threw
open their windows and saw three men, one
of them carrying pail, making their way
hastily down the road toward the depot. The
inhabitants rushed out into the street,and in
to the bank, where they found the safe shat
tered, the door blown half way across the
room, and papers and bills scattered all over
the floor, the jimmy by which the door had
been forced, and number of tools bearing
the M. c. K. r. stamp. There was every ev-
idence of robbery and every one started in
pursuit of the burglars. Deacon Woodward
had seen the men going toward Wayne and
in that direction the chase had Just begun
when party came running down from the
other direction stating that wagon had
driven away from the Methodist meeting
house toward Augusta. They had seen
where wagon had backed into the shed and
where the horse had been started in haste
but little while before. Foot prints on the
dewey road, whip left behind and the
wheel tracks indicated this.
A dozen teams started in pursuit and
secured every road to the east of Winthrop,
while no search at all was prosecuted in the
direction of Wayne.
Saturday night, Mr.. Carr got clue from
Mr.. Foster, the express agent at Anson
| Sunday he started out in a top buggy, and
went to West Watervile where the depot
master told of three men buying. Thursday
| morning, tickets for Leeds junction. Found